The campaign came to life across multiple channels and points of engagement based on our aim to reach the widest audience and extend a deeper understanding about autism. Broadcast (TV, Cinema and OOH) formed our big awareness pieces. Our evocative film told the story of Ash, a fifteen year old girl, and the visceral importance of her hoodie in her life. Our interactive ‘clothes-stories’ exhibition at the gallery@oxo shared intimate and powerful clothes stories of autistic girls and non-binary people. Our social campaign and educational website hubs promoted stories and quotes from the wider autistic community which inspired wider discourse.

Vanish penetration has been in decline since 2018 (-102bps). The brand is losing relevance and wallet share - as a premium priced additive - as most consumers (70%) still see the brand as a straightforward stain remover only. But in 2021 Vanish reformulated to offer multiple garment care benefits, stain and odour removal, hygienically cleans and colour protection, however awareness of this remains low (46%). Furthermore, Vanish is fighting for relevance as it is a discretionary product consumers need to buy on top of detergents, many of which were claiming many of the same benefits.

In a category saturated by performance messaging, we needed to move beyond the purely functional and connect with our consumers. We needed a fresh perspective in order to shift perceptions of our product proposition and to drive relevance and usage. We aimed to achieve this via our purpose-led proposition ‘making clothes live longer’.

Having made the brand connection to support the autistic community, we listened to the community and learnt the eye-opening truth that girls are three times less likely to be diagnosed than boys due to outdated misconceptions. But without a confirmed diagnosis, autistic people and their families can't receive the support they need. Although every autistic person is different, women and girls can be better at ‘masking’ their autism.

The majority of mainstream depictions of autism - include ‘Rain Man’, ‘Atypical’, ‘X + Y’ and ‘I Used To Be Famous’, all of which feature autistic men. Yet, autistic girls and women still remain largely overlooked in an already underrepresented community. 98% of autistic people believe their lives would improve through better representation and understanding Our campaign aimed to help improve women, girl's and non-binary visibility by celebrating their voices and providing support.

For World Autism Acceptance Week, we elevated the gender gap in autism diagnoses with a campaign devised to broaden public understanding. Nurturing a conversation to celebrate autistic girls and their clothes stories, break down myths and normalise life around autistic young people.

‘Me, My Autism & I’ shattered the misconception that autism primarily impacts boys by platforming many different autistic female voices across the campaign. While de-stigmatising autism at every step through positive portrayals of talents, as well as honest insights into daily struggles. To help all autistic girls feel seen, heard and supported.

Our evocative docudrama film told Ash’s story and the visceral importance of her hoodie. This was joined by other stories across an exhibition, social campaign, and online hub (with articles written by the community). Vanish donated 25p per pack in ASDA stores to support Ambitious about Autism's in improving the pathways to diagnosis for all.

To make our proposition relevant and engaging, we needed to encourage people to wear their clothes for longer. We identified an emotive truth about our relationship with clothing: we wear favourite garments over and over again.

This is true for everyone, but particularly autistic people: 92% of autistic people have sensory sensitivity, 73% use familiar items of clothing to help regulate their senses and navigate the world. For this community, making clothes live longer really matters.

We wanted to broaden public understanding of autism, empower the community and ensure brand relevance.

Girls are three times less likely to receive an autism diagnosis than boys. We conducted surveys amongst Ambitious about Autism’s network of young autistic people and their families (+2,000 responses), they told us the misconception that autism is a boy’s condition is a factor. We therefore shaped our campaign to celebrate and support girls.

We platformed autistic voices across film, real world activation, social campaigns, and an online hub.

Director Tom Hooper created a beautifully cinematic yet accessible hero film telling Ash’s story and the visceral importance of her hoodie. From casting a magnetic lead alongside her real family to directing a gripping score.

Our exhibition at the gallery@oxo shared intimate and powerful stories that explored how familiar and consistent clothing can help autistic girls thrive.

In partnership with Channel 4’s 4Studio our empowering digital film celebrated stories about how significant items in autistic people’s lives helped them realise their best selves.

The campaign hub housed opinion pieces from autistic youth covering topics like the LGBTQ+ and POC autistic experience. As well as the gender gap within diagnosis, autism within education and advice for families.

And the sharing continued, across social platforming clothes stories from Ambitious about Autism’s Youth Network and autistic influencers.

We were overwhelmed by the positive response:

In total, we have secured 66x pieces of coverage and a reach of 3.8b

+60 million impressions on Twitter of 'Vanish' and 'autism' of which 88% were positive

Viral on TikTok with video receiving +3.6 million views

+500 followers on Ambitious about Autism Instagram

+190% in new visitors on Ambitious about Autism's website since launch

+2,000% increase in engagement on Vanish landing page (vs previous period based on average daily visit numbers).

Hero film results:

82% gave the ad a 5 or 4 star rating.

79% feel more informed about the lived experience of autism since watching our ad.

53% say they will do more research into how Vanish is supporting this cause after watching the ad.

(Channel 4 Mirror On The Industry Report: 4Youth network)